oldtimefan

My two cents after having watched these entire top twelve shows on my time off. This season was a good one, ( like we have bad ones), but that said, Pines was my favorite SECOND half of a show, great powerful, and listenable music, but their first half was lacking compared to that ending. Maybe it was the effect? Just an unaswerable question to answer your question? I have a friend that I have lost touch with ( time and distance apart ) Dave Huntley, you out there????, that marched that year in the snare line. If I run in to him again i will ask.

As was mentioned, I came back after about five years of nothing to do with corps at all. It was a nice break. I got caught up in that negative spiral right here on dcp. The constant youth vs old. Ouway is best, no our way is best. The battle of the young guns "telling me" to donate my money to a movement that didn't really represent me anymore. Really? I took the break. I came back. I made a post and was only trying to spark discussion on how to make things more competitive. Nothing more than that and got 19 negatives right off the bat.......really? No one wants things to be even on the competitve front? Ok, whatever. I was on facebook and someone who shall remain nameless, was calling people bandwagon fans for just wishing Carolina Crown congrats. He then talked about the class the Devils had in taking second. I merely said you should take some of their class and extend it to the people you call names. He then sends me a personal message telling me what a pathetic person I am and how I should kill my children so they don't grow up to be like me. This is a former marching member of DCI. This does not hopefully represent most or even some of the members out there, but it is what it is. Point is, I then posted a very heartfelt post, telling people why I am back. How I do like the sound and look of drum corps, and waited to see if the negative nellies would come out and play. I would know if it was truly time to pack it in forever. Only one person came on and tried to start junk by slamming one corps for something. I think at last count there were 24 plusses on that post. Thank God, not all is lost. Take your break, drum corps will still be here. It is not dead, it won't die. It is stronger than all of us combined and while some corps disappear, there are alway going to be a few left. The few that are left, keep getting better and better. All star corps is what it is coming down to and it is incredible. See you when you get back, and I won't be one of those who said, good riddance ( like I was told ), I will personally tell you, we will miss you. Every person that walk away is missed. Most people are just too stubborn to admit it. I will welcome you when you come back. Take care and enjoy walking hand in hand with that wife.

please correct me if I am wrong, but in days gone by, drill was written by hand. Today it is computer generated and can be changed with the click of a mouse. Might be a whole different topic if computers were used "back in the day".

I plussed you on this. Many people who will be trying out for many corps read this and it was a very nice reply. As to the orginal thread: Nerves will play more havoc on more people than lack of talent will ever do them in. Just coming on here looking for tips has already given you an edge in my book. I hope your playing is the tipping point and you come back here and report that you were offered a contract. Good luck.

Just think what this person would have been discussing with the Cadets Door show. " They were bringing aliens in through a portal on the field and having them pretend they were a judge so as not to be found out, but I wasn't fooled. The aliens are amongst us and they are in drum corps shows. Might have even called the police when Phantom killed the drum major.......

I love that you honored a commitment. It showed true class. I think a lot of people would have jumped ship and landed in a sea of hot water. I have recently met a friend who marched Madison and was soloist in 88. Eric Roethe. It was funny. My wife of 2 years was being indoctrinated into drum corps and I was showing her the 88 Scouts and she says, my friend from high school has his profile changed and he is in their uniform. Turns out he marched, etc. She had no idea about any of it. He felt the same thing about the ring. He had barely any drum corps knowledge at all. Said he just went to a show one day thought it looked cool. That was it. He marched.

Here is the honest to God secret, and for those of you who believe in nothing, here is you honest to nothing sake answer. I typed this all shortly after chopping red onions. Forgot to wipe the hands clean. My bad and am very sorry for the confusion. Thanks to all who read and accepted the post. It is from the heart and honest. I am looking forward to Xmas and the dvds to rrive. I have a few seasons to be buying.

Thanks. As for your last post on the singing. I found it actually kind of neat, but it lacked a huge punch in the face. It had a cool build and no serious punch. I talk of vocals and actually said maybe hate ( without going back and rereading ). I have listened to the Crown cd now three times today and am actually really getting into the vocals as an instrument to the show. I know, I am sitting as I type this so as not to hurt myself when I hit enter and let people see this revelation. I love, love, love me some Enigma....and this show, or at least this early season recording has a very real Enigma feel to it. The musicality is truly unreal. That said, the old Blue Devil show with Yowza is like a dental drilling without novacaine. i don't know that I will ever be able to go back and relisten objectivly, but I owe it to myself to try it one last time. What else is there to refind????? So glad my kid wanted to see the show this summer. I had written off corps and had quit donating. I was good for over 1000 every year in donations to corps. time to start that up again. Best part is my employer matches every donation. In case some of you old drum corps planet members care, my old dc planet moniker was 84ryder, or 84skyryder. Can't remember for sure. Its been awhile, and yes, you win. I am back.

But after "discovering" drum corps, how did the Devils become the place you landed? Was it that you lived close? You saw them and knew thats where you needed to march? Both, neither? I would kill to have marched my age out year. Crappy part on that year was that I was NOT chasing a ring, but was going to try out with a certain corps that happened to win. A LOT. Solely because of my former room mate in Guardsmen. I was so proud of him and how he carried himself. I wanted to emulate that. Downfall was that I had grown up, had a job that my mom was not letting me quit. She was the one I needed to have help me financially. I worked in the medical field and was doing one on one with cancer patients. Drum corps for a fourth year, or helping families cope with death? I may have made that mistake that cost the championship anyways......ah to dream of that season that never happened and everytime I hear the strains of Appalachian Spring, I get this feeling.....mom was with me as we watched the Cadets leave the field in Madison in 1987. They were so proud and stoic. The faces were burnt in my minds. I promised myself then and there, I will let my kids be kids until they either have their own, or I am dead and gone. Just as mom sat with me that night at finals and actually held my hand as Garfield filed past us in Madison. I got to return her favor. Mom got cancer in her early 50s and wanted to die at home. That was her only request. I took care of her every night after work and sat with her up to the moment of her death at the age of 56. Maybe working with cancer patients in my last year of eligibility was the right thing....................

I have wondered why this wasn't done a long time ago. DCI has decided that the championships were to be in Indy for a decade. That was the perfect time for this to be instituted. You see all kinds of stuff on ebay that could be had for very little. Other stuff corps have most likely thrown away at the end of the year, or tried to sell. This is hopefully a doable thing. I guess the backing and spot, is up to DCI. Its their game.

Jim Mason was my Colts director at that age of 13 and the complete rookie season, so say no more. I know plenty of his intensity. Star was formed with all intent to win. They had the formula and the backing. Mr. Cook and Mason never failed, and Star rocked and so did Blast!

PREFACE: Its ok to do this in my mind. We all have our reasons we marched where we marched. Times have truly changed, but this has happened since the advent of DCI. That said, why did you march where you marched. I will start with my first corps being the Dubuque Colts. They were my first corps. I marched there as they are my hometown corps. They were in need of people. BAD. They took me with ZERO experience and no audition. 13 years old and heres some cymbals. Here is how you count and here is when you crash. Talk about a learning curve. I then marched with the Guardsmen on bassdrum for a season. It was a trying year, but it was fun. I had a roommate that was the hardest working snare drummer I have ever met. He was non stop practice. Even on the bus he wouldn't stop. He went to the bathroom while people slept and practiced. He told me all season, Garfield will win DCI and I will be with them. He went to Garfield in 83 and marched the threepeat. Ringchaser? Sure, but he earned every bit of it. My last corps I marched was in Kansas. The Sky Ryders. My junior year of high school. I loved every bit of their style and wanted to be a part of them. Guardsmen were folding and I didn't want to go back to Colts. ( I just didn't want to spend my time so close to home ) Sky had a drum corps world ad looking for members and I was in heaven. I called and was offered a spot in the cymbal line. Bingo. My favorite spot to be in. ( had dreams of SCV cymbals ) Off I went. Your turn. Where did you march if you care to share, and or why did you go where you marched? There is no wrong answer, we all have our reasons. If you wanted to experience winning, is that honestly wrong?

Ok, so I went back and dug out my cd of them from this year that I bought at the Mn show. I will be honest in saying I bought it and really never listened. I like to own, and support and then listen somewhere down the road. So, after being asked about their vocals, I went back and gave a wholehearted listen. What I heard at the show and what is on that cd was night and day. I think where I was sitting in the stands caused a lot of vocals to be lost. That said, I really am not a vocal liker. George Dixon will blame this response on my " giving Crown a pass". I think that their vocals were woven so well into the music that, that may also be the reason it didn't override my normal dislike for them during their show. I can actually listen to this cd and not hate it. Now for people like Goerge who want to blame me for giving them a pass, since they are the new darlings: I must say I get what you want to push. They had a lot of backing to win. My point in how I reacted to their vocals is NOT because of who they are. They weren't even in my top 4 favorite shows this year. Cadets, SCV, Phantom, Scouts, then Cavies.....then Crown. I didn't see a show this year that I didn't at least like. Although I do say it will take a few more viewings of BD to take that in. It was a really great year, and my wallet will take a big hit this Christmas as I buy previous year dvds to see what it was that I missed in my pouting period.

I saw them in Minnesota. I took my son to the Lacrosse show and I decided I enjoyed the shows so much that I surprised him by taking him to MN the next day. It was a GREAT show. The only thing I remember about the vocals in their show was the repitition of counting. I didn't think it was too crazy, but I was also just blown away by everything that was going on, so I may have been overlooking it. I know I enjoyed their music enough to go back to their booth and buy their tour cd.

It isn't total aversion to vocals, just over usage. Even then it would be everyones own opinion as to what that constitutes. Mine would be in the realm of the Yowza show.

I marched in the 80s. I have been on this board before under a different screen name. I swore to God I would never come back, and that I would never go to another show again....AFTER vocals were instituted. The use of the Yowza, and the singing that the Cadets did drove me away. I truly can't watch those shows EVER. That said. This year my son asked me about taking him to see a show. I relented. We went. I was floored at the sound. I was anti amp, anti electronics, and still HATE vocals, always will, but there is no comparison to what I am hearing out there on that field. We can all debate the songs and them being chopped up bits, etc. I am talking about the beauty of the sound, and how well its woven. I am almost to the point that if DCI wants to try woodwinds, then so be it. I have no doubt some corps will go full on overboard and alienate half of the world with their overuse for a year. Then they will learn how to use them wisely and it will be incredible. I bought the Cadets pretour cd and am astounded by the sound. If this is what it sounds like with all the changes in place, then change on. I missed about 5 years of corps over my stubborness. I have some catching up to do.

fantastic memories. As you were huddling under trees, we were trying to save our last show of the year in front of the crowd who was running for cover. It didn't work. We choked and it showed. I really wish DCI had some sort of do over when weather kind of "rains on your parade", but it is what it is. Not sure it matters. Like I said, the only change I would have made that counted for anything would have been inserting Troopers to top 12, and I won't even say who should have come out. It was just too close to really say. Maybe a tie for 12? Lucky for me my surgical rehab is going great and my work days start back on monday, but I plan on watching every show I have from every year yet. Soon. I do have top 25 from 85. Looking forward to that.

I didn't get too many chances to see the Lancers that year. They always had a good line. Kudos to a them on that well earned spot.

Do tell. What are your memories, if you marched them.

Fever unis...thanks, I know they wore tan at one time, but the video I have is all high angle they look like straight ghosts. As for the rain, nope, it may have rained on the Freelancers, I can't comment because the video of them is from finals, but it was not raining on us until we hit about the 16th count of the show. The video even shows people get up and start running for the exits. Its kind of comical. Also, my last post might have looked like a put down as to "we could have beaten Troop". I don't think we would have after watching the video. I even said, that I think they maybe should have been in finals and they in fact kind of missed out.

For prelims? That would have been perfect. I didnt get to stick around. We headed back to our school and we were staying almost an hour away. That rain for sure hurt us. Who knows how much, but if you look at scores, finals were pretty much set, but 13th on out was all over the place every night of the week. There were 2 point nightly swings going on. We would beat Troopers and the next night they were up by three? One of the corps in 15 or 16 was DQ'd for marching over age members, I don't remember which one and it truly doesn't matter 30 years later. It isn't like it took away a finals spot or a championship.

If this is legal, AND you have a copy of the show on dvd or vhs of the Dubuque Colts from 1981 montreal prelims...I will buy a copy, or trade or do something, anything within reason. As long as what I am asking is legal. I am not asking to do anything that breals any trademark or anything. Hopefully. It was my rookie season, and actually I had never marched ANYTHING, let alone corps. Would love to see this. I would assume it doesn't exist, BUT, maybe........I do have it on cassette, thanks to the Late Great Ken Kobold. Actually have every SINGLE corps from 1981. It cost me a bunch of money, but it was well worth it and Ken did a great job.

Was anyone there as a spectator? Just wondering if we "Sky Ryders" were the only ones to rained on. I watch my dvds and it appears that way. I am in awe of some of the sounds from some of the smaller corps and wish I had the rest of the shows. The only complaint? My dvds are in rough shape. Valley Fever looks like they are ghosts and if memory serves correct, they had brownish unis.

I think the OP is only asking, ( JUST MY OPINION ) if doing something like this would bring people BACK? My answer, again, my opinion....no. People grow and move on. Every single time a corps died, many kids and their families found something else to do. That is a lot of people who just left drum corps and aren't coming back. Not every person who was involved in corps was a die hard and left only because of Hop. Are the corps doing things that are exiciting? That is being extremely debated by everybody every year. Do the corps do what they do, EXTREMELY WELL? H#$@ YES!!!! Better than ever by far and bar none. I think it is just an honest attempt to increase exposure and love of drum corps for all. I have said before I wish the younger kids could get some of those throw your babies standing O's of yester year, because these corps of today, truly deserve them. Music from yesteryear, done with todays quality drill and musicianship and frontline? Could really be something and as was said earlier, most of todays fans may have never been exposed to a lot this music and may just be blown away. Never know. It may fall on its face also, times have changed.......alot.

Almost no sense in posting any further on the rest of the field from 84, it seems no one else has anything to share? I have the dvd of the top 22, and there were a lot of interesting things to see and hear. Colts had four drum sets on the front line. Boston had a very small corps and a very strong corps. They were Boston strong long before the term came out. Anyway, if anyone cares, let me know, and we can discuss any of the corps. I have them on dvd and will gladly talk about them. Anyone march any of them and not have yourself on dvd?